Out of time

With no timeouts remaining, Villanova took some questionable shots at the finish and fell to No. 21 Georgetown.

PHILADELPHIA - In a sense, Villanova's 69-66 loss to Georgetown on Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center can be summed up by what happened in the final 14.1 seconds.

Austin Freeman, who already did just about everything else for the No. 21 Hoyas, had just made a pair of free throws to extend the lead back to three. But No. 8 'Nova had been out of timeouts since 7 minutes, 47 seconds remained in the second half, leaving the 'Cats without an opportunity to draw up a play, or even to take a quick two-point shot and then call time, as coach Jay Wright later admitted he might have wanted.

And so Corey Fisher brought the ball up and spotted up for a 3-pointer from the top of the key before changing his mind in mid-air and dishing to Antonio Pena, a power forward and certainly not the most ideal option. Pena's shot rimmed out, and Dominic Cheek's desperation heave just before the buzzer missed, too.

It was the third loss in four games for Villanova (17-4, 5-3 Big East), which still has to play No. 2 Pitt twice, No. 9 Syracuse at home, and at No. 15 Notre Dame, which just won at Pitt on Monday.

Georgetown (16-5, 5-4 Big East) has now won four in a row after having lost three straight.

"We've gotten into a little funk here," said Wright, a Council Rock graduate, "where we've played some games where we've taken bad shots."

Diagnosing the problem is one thing; treating it is quite another.

Wright's system allows his players the freedom to improvise on offense, but at times Saturday, 'Nova was reduced to having Fisher or Maalik Wayns try to dribble penetrate while their teammates simply stood around and watched. It didn't help that Corey Stokes, their best outside shooter, has been struggling of late and then suffered what Wright described as turf-toe-like condition in the first half, forcing Wright to substitute him frequently.

"I would have had him in there - trust me," said Wright of Stokes. "I was trying to play a little offense-defense (with the substitution pattern) because he couldn't really move defensively."

'Nova is 15-0 this season when it scores 70 or more points, but just 2-4 when it fails to do so.

"One of the drawbacks in ('Nova's freewheeling system) is that if they continue to make bad decisions - even if they're making shots - you've got to pull them back," Wright said. "I don't think we've done a good enough job of that."

Wright was asked if the poor shot selection resulted from not getting into a flow with the half-court offense.

"I think you get into a flow when you get the defense out of rhythm," he said. "We were always taking the first shot. Sometimes it's a curse. + You can always get one off, but we've got to get the best shots. It's a fine line there. We'll live with some bad shots, but we're taking a lot of bad shots."

Sophomore center Mouphtaou Yarou (seven points, eight rebounds) brought a physicality that helped 'Nova overcome an eight-point deficit early in the second half, at least until he picked up his fourth foul with 10:16 to play.

Wright defended his Andy-Reid-like early use of his timeouts by saying the 'Cats were "reeling a little bit" and needed to use them when they did.

Freeman, a senior guard and the Big East's preseason player of the year, scored 30 points for the Hoyas, who shot 52.2 percent (24-for-46) from the field. Freeman also tied a career high with six assists and made all eight of his free throws, including those two huge ones with 14.1 seconds left and the crowd of 19,914 howling at him.

After 'Nova had closed to within 63-62, Freeman knocked down a shot from the corner with a hand in his face as the shot clock neared zero. And on Georgetown's next possession, he was trapped near midcourt but still found teammate Nate Lubick under the basket for a crucial dunk that again extended the lead to three.

"He made," Wright said, "every play down the stretch."

Dom Cosentino can be reached at dcosentino@phillyBurbs.com. Follow Dom at twitter.com/domcosentino.

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